Shifting Tides
by self-referentially
Summary: Aella Lahey. Percy Jackson. Just friends, to Aella, because she has Luke. But Percy wants more. With Zeus's master bolt gone, the duo must set off with Grover and Annabeth to save the day, all while Percy tries to convince Allie Luke isn't everything she wants and more. NOSLASH only movie characters T for occasional mild swearing
1. Prologue

**A/N: So this is a Thalia, Nico, Bianca, Leo free universe….All those people, they're not in this and never will be. So…YEAH. This is based pretty strictly on the movie, with a little help from the books for clearing things up. Don't like, don't read. The prologue is in Aella's POV, the rest is in Percy's, though I may mix it up a bit with others. Happy reading :D *the song allie sings is 'just a game' by birdy**

**PROLOGUE**

My little sister, Susie, always used to tell me, "Optimism is expecting to find every crayon in the box." I guess by that standard, a lot of us were optimistic. I wasn't. Not in the slightest.

Whenever she said that, I'd look her straight in the eye, and ask her, "But how far, exactly, did mom and dad get with _optimism_?" She'd look away, not because it hurt to look at me, but because she knew it hurt me to see her cry. She was always like that—considerate, selfless.

She knew I never really meant it, even if she had never heard me say it. She knew I didn't blame her for being put into different foster homes, over and over, switching schools at least every year. I blamed myself for this, because if I was normal, we would probably have a family by now. But I could tell she didn't mind. Her philosophy was that it was better to be miserable together than happy apart. She said it to me all the time, and most of the time I think she said it just to convince herself, not me.

That didn't matter though. Optimism was her thing, not mine.

It was a cold, rainy Friday when everything began to fall apart. My eleven-year-old life wasn't necessarily great, but as far as I was concerned, it was pretty much a crappy day from the time I woke up. So sitting in English class with a headache, dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, and a certain teacher asking me to read a paragraph from Othello in homeroom wasn't exactly the highlight of my day.

"Miss. Lahey, did you hear me?"

I gritted my teeth, and looked up to her, forcing a smile. "Yes, ma'am. I'm just having trouble reading it. Gimme a sec."

I looked down at the text, but it was no use. The E's were flipping over, the r's were switching places with the t's, a's became o's…..

"I'm sorry, I can't read this."

Mrs. Hemming just pursed her lips and nodded, a disappointed gleam shining in her eyes. I knew what she must have been thinking. She thought she would have been the one to turn me around. She'd obviously seen my case file and thought she'd be able to do what at least twelve others hadn't. I sighed and glanced back to my friend Leigh, a sympathetic smile gracing her face. Well, at least one person wasn't out to ruin my life.

The rest of the day was fine after that. Lunch was better than usual; Leigh and I actually managed to snag a table before everybody else grabbed them. It was harder for her to sit on the ground, as her legs had a muscle deficiency, making it so that she was excused from gym class for the rest of her life. My mood was in recovery by the time school got out, and the storm outside had lightened up since English.

As Leigh and I walked home, I voiced what had been bothering me all day, but had somehow been pushed to the back of my mind.

"Leigh, do ever have that feeling that you're being watched?"

Leigh's reaction was not what I expected. Her eyes widened and she nearly fell down. Trying to recover with a nervous laugh, she glanced warily at me.

"L-Like watched by someone who likes you, or watched, like somebody's out to murder you?"

I raised an eyebrow, sending her a side glance. "I think you know the answer to that."

She hastily changed the subject. "So when does S-Susie come home?"

"She doesn't anymore," I said, sighing. "She goes to that boarding school on a scholarship. She gets holidays, but her new family doesn't want her seeing 'that delinquent street rat.'"

I'd almost forgotten she'd been adopted. Or rather, I'd stopped remembering. She'd sent me letters at first, but in the last letter she sent, she said she had too much homework and it was getting harder to write them. I think it was that her stupid family didn't want her in contact with me. But every now and then, she'd send an e-mail full of pictures, and I'd see how happy she was, and I'd know she'd forgotten her philosophy. She may have only been my half-sister, but it still hurt to know she couldn't be bothered with me anymore.

"I'm sorry, Allie."

I just nodded, watching the raindrops fall into a large puddle next to me.

"But how about we do something fun this weekend? We can go bowling, or go down to Lake—"

"Leigh, what is _that_?"

"What do you mean? That's a cow!"

"No," I said looking out at the pasture behind the one we were walking along. I hadn't been paying attention before, but now it looked like there was a huge bull with gleaming red eyes running towards us. And he was probably only a half mile away.

She saw what I was looking at and screamed, "Run, Allie! We need to go!"

"WE?! How are you going to run?!" She was crippled, for God sakes. How was I supposed to help her?

"Like this!" And with that, she ripped off her sweatpants, but instead of legs, there were…

"You're a goat?!"

"I'm a satyr," she said, looking me in the eye. "And we need to run, now!"

So we started sprinting down the empty stretch, adrenalin pumping through my veins while my heart beat out of my chest.

"RIGHT! Take a right here!" Leigh shouted over the rain that had picked up after we started running. In front of us, there was a wooden archway, lit with torches. I squinted to read it, only to find it read, quite easily, _CAMP HALF-BLOOD._

We sprinted through the archway, and the creature seemed to roar with fury, before disappearing.

"What," I gasped, "was that? What is going on?!"

"Allie, you're a demigod."

Okay :) Good start. 5 reviews and I may post next week


	2. Chapter 1

**6 Years Later... and in Percy's POV! :)**

"So this is the archery course, the weaponry, and this is where you do most of your basic training…"

Grover trailed off, stopping to overlook the grassy field where two girls stood, back-to-back, fighting off at least 15 other people. One girl, with long, dark brown hair, was mocking somebody, her bronze sword gleaming dully in the sunlight. The other girl next to her, slightly shorter, had the same hair, only in a lighter shade and done up in a French braid, a slight streak of aqua weaved through it. She, too, was holding a sword, but she was stepping cautiously around the fallen bodies while seemingly searching.

"And they are…?"

Grover looked at me, grinning. "Please man, they are _so_ out of your league."

"Their _names_," I pressed.

He sighed, rolling his eyes. "To the left, that's Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena. Been here as long as anyone can remember. And to her right, that's Aella Lahey. Everyone calls her Allie. You'll get to know her soon enough, everyone does. She's dating the Camp Leader, Luke Castellan."

I repressed a sigh. Of course she had a boyfriend. How could she not? But then another question came to mind. "Who's her godly parent?"

Grover smiled softly at her form, almost sympathetically, before answering. "That's a good question."

His tone made me want to press further, but I dropped it. Maybe she didn't like to talk about it. Grover smiled at me, before looking to his left. "C'mon, there's somebody I want you to meet."

ALLIE POV (this is mostly filler. Sorry! :P):

"Take _that!"_ Annabeth cried, thrusting her sword into Jake's armor, creating a loud clank and causing him to fall to the ground.

"Ooh! Sorry!" I said, stepping on his fingers as i maneuvered around and brought my own sword down on top of…I think that may have been Daniel…

I saw a glint of metal in the sun and picked it up. A spear! And by the looks of it, a newly made one from the blacksmiths. I dropped my sword at the feet of one of the other countless fallen soldiers and send it flying through the air, slightly denting one of Apollo's son's armor.

"Sorry!" I called after him.

PERCY POV:

I looked out at the water. The sun was just beginning to set over the mountains, and a hazy orange was settling on the lake's reflective surface. _My dad is Poseidon._ I guess I really did belong here. I was some sort of Aquakid freak at a camp full of centaurs, pixies, and bloodthirsty teenagers. Which, sadly, was still an improvement to my old school, and the apartment with Gabe and my mom.

My mom.

I don't think I had actually processed until now the fact that she was dead. I had lost her, but gained my father. Who I wish I could say was still dead, or in jail…something. Not that he was trying to protect me from everything Zeus could throw at me because I had supposedly stolen Zeus's master lightning bolt. And that, if I didn't get it back by the Summer Solstice in two weeks, there would be a war of the gods.

I looked out onto the blood red water rippling on the surface as a light breeze blew by, just thinking, when I heard a melody floating by.

_See these people, they lie, and I don't know…_

I walked out of my cabin and looked around. I couldn't see anybody nearby.

_Who to believe anymore? But there comes you to keep me safe from harm…_

I glanced at the other cabins, trying to pinpoint where the music was coming from. The dimming sunset wasn't very bright, and I struggled to see past Aphrodite's cabin. Sighing, I went back inside.

_Pleading eyes that break my heart, so homesick, I can't feel. But I know I must play my part…_

It was easy to fall asleep to that song. And I don't think I could ever tell you why.

When I finally found Grover that afternoon, he was talking with Allie. They were both wearing a sort of leather, and had armor on them. Grover was wearing an armored chest plate, holstered with two daggers. Allie, on the other hand, was entirely leather. The only discernible weapon was sheathed around her left calf. A helmet stayed lucked under her arm, while she motioned with the other one.

"…know why he has too, but he'll be packing up soon and Monday it'll be an empty cabin."

"Did he say where he was going?" Grover asked, his eyes squinted in worry.

Sighing, Allie shook her head. "Just that he needed to some things he couldn't do here. No specifics, just that he would wait for me."

"I'm sorry, Al, really. I know how in love you two are. This doesn't seem like him… Hey, Perce."

Allies head snapped to him, a small smile gracing her face. "Hello, Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon."

I smiled at her, standing somewhat awkwardly. "Word travels fast around here."

"Yes, seeing as a newbie dispelled the minotaur before he even knew he was a demigod," she grinned. "'S'not something you easily dismiss."

"Oh, well…"

She glanced at him, her stormy gray eyes scanning him. "I take it you came to talk to Grover about something you're confused about, yes?"

Grover, who had been staring at the wood nymphs a few cabins away, turned at the sound of his name.

"I-What?" I stuttered, looking at Grover for support.

"She does that," he said, looking slightly uninterested. "Swear up and down she's from Athena, but _nooooo_…"

"Grover," she scolded. "Be nice—" she turned to me "—And yes, I tend to critically analyze situations before I hop in and board the slaying train. And that's what will keep me alive on quests. But otherwise, you may want to ask Grover that question now. He seems to have gained particular interest in those wood nymphs."

Grover huffed. "Yeah, Percy. Help a guy out."

"Oh," I racked my brains, trying to think of the question I had forgotten. "Oh,yeah. I heard some singing last night."

"That wasn't a question, Percy Jackson."

I turned to her, my hands clenched in annoyance. "What?"

"But alas, that was. Seems like your questioning time is over and it's time to trot along to Capture the Flag."

She turned, on her heel, her braid whipping around with her. I blinked before turning back to Grover.

"What just happened?"

He laughed, leading me to where I assumed the capture-the-flag match would start. It was a flat, grassy field, the same one I had seen Annabeth and Allie earlier, only this time people were dispersing into two groups.

"That's Allie for you. She doesn't like it when people talk about her."

"Wait, so she was the one singing?"

"Yeah," Grover replied, tossing me a helmet and some armor that I struggled to catch. "She usually does it with Luke, but… Well, let's just say last night wasn't the best night for them."

I tugged the armor over my head. "Is that what you were talking about earlier?"

He handed me my sword. "Yeah, Luke's leaving for a self-assigned quest Monday. They didn't break up, but Allie's pretty upset that she's not going to be able to see him for six months."

"Quest…?"

"Yeah, see, when you're a demigod, you're expected to do stuff. Save the world, become a celebrity, join the military…Something."

"Gather round! Heroes!" Chiron's voice rang out.

Grover and I jogged up to him before the other demigods. I looked around nervously, wondering how I was going to be assigned a team.

"Percy, come here." Chiron said lowly, before raising his voice again. "Now this, is Percy Jackson. He'll be needing a team. Any volunteers?"

A voice called out instantaneously. "We'll take 'im!"

A grinning blonde boy, who looked to be about twenty, stepped forward. His blue eyes were welcoming, holding a mischievous glint, and while one hand was beckoning towards Percy, the other was holding onto somebody. I saw Allie looking up at him in admiration, and I realized this must've been—

"Luke! There we go!"

Luke looked at me happily. "You got a helmet, soldier?"

"Ah—uhm, no…No-nobody gave me one," I stuttered, anxious for being put on the spot.

"Oh, well," Luke looked crestfallen, before looking back to Chiron. "You still got your wheelchair, Chiron?"

I felt my eyes widen.

"Boy's gunna need it," Luke continued seriously.

Chiron shrugged innocently. Seeing my face, Allie giggled.

"Relax, Percy. He's messing with you," Allie said. Luke grinned at her and kissed the top of her head. "Lighten up."

"Well, Perce, welcome to the Blue Team." Luke grinned at him before huddling the group of blue warriors.

"Team! This'll be a hard match! Clarisse won't be easy on us, and neither will Annabeth. But Allie here has a bet with Annabeth going, so nobody is to touch Clarisse. I repeat: _Nobody is to touch Clarisse." _Luke looked around at the faces of his teammate. "Are we clear?"

"Yeah!" the team cried.

"Okay, then. We have ten minutes before the match; defense, line up by number and talk to Allie for your guarding coordinates!"

I walked over to the line before a hand gripped my shoulder, stopping me from going further. "Hang on there, Jackson."

I saw Luke grinning at me, something that seemed to be a part of his normal appearance. "You'll be offense, with me."

I nodded before zoning out for the next five minutes, the only noise mild conversation and Allie's orders being shouted out.

"54! 73 degrees east, 4 north! NOBODY is to cross the river! 55! With 54!"

A bell sounded and Allie shouted for attention. "Heroes of the defense: get in position! When the final bell sounds, you will get leverage. Go in a tree, hide in the river, I don't care. We will win this match if you are willing. Now good luck, and may the gods watch over you."

People nodded gruffly before running out. Only half of the team remained. Allie jogged up to Luke, tossing her clipboard to a random tree. "Kiss for luck, babe?"

Luke went down and pecked her nose, before pulling back to a sour expression from Allie, causing me to chuckle. They ignored me.

"What, sweetie?"

"You were supposed to kiss my _lips_, you goob!"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Goob?"

She sighed in annoyance. "Term of endearment," she said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "Means I like you."

"Oh? So you like me now, huh? Maybe that does deserve a kiss on the lips…"

And then they were kissing, oblivious to everybody else. I didn't join in on the groans and looks of disgust from the left over fighters, instead feeling a pang inside my stomach. They finished just as the final bell ring.

"Let's GO! MOVE!"

I followed Luke, running through the trees.

A/N: so thanks for reading! :) corrections? ideas? commentary? looooove? reviews or message me :)))


	3. Chapter 2

The first thing I noticed about Luke was that he was eager to win. He sprinted, weaving through trees, small swollen streams, and occasionally one of our guardsmen, as I followed behind, gasping for air. It wasn't often I was required to run at school, let alone sprint along a forest floor. At Yancy Academy, my latest school, their priority was student behavioral issues, so they probably saw gym class as a way for kids to run away and catch a bus to nowhere.

The sun was still bright in the sky; not as bright as it had been earlier, but enough to feel like a casual summer day. The forest, however, had an entirely different feel. A dense fog had settled once we had gotten about an hour in to the match. I had questioned Luke about the length of the game earlier-his response being that these games could go on for days if we didn't stop for dinner.

This camp, since I had arrived, striked me as odd. People, from the ages of nine to twenty-five stayed here, training for various things. From what I'd heard, Athena's cabin ended up mostly being political leaders, Aphrodite's cabin models, movie stars, and the likes...Ares cabin had a nack for military warfare, and Apollo had most of its kids go into a musical career. Even with the various personalities, they all shared one thing; they all had uncanny judgement of the dangerous, and the need to seriously injure people. As far as I'd seen, at least.

The forest, however, was another story. Just going into it alone was considered a task of training. So far I'd gathered there were various types of monsters in it, along with the usual creepy-forest givens. It was always dark and cold in here, and this was causing my metal armor to get some icy condensation on it. IT, at least, could have been worse.

Luke hollered something at me and I stopped.

"What?"

"Get in a tree! We've got some reds, so we'll ambush 'em!"

I hitched my sword behind my shoulder blades, tensing for the climb. I launched one foot on to a sturdy out-hollow, hoisting myself after that higher and higher. I reached the middle of the tree, where I was most concealed, just as the three red members came trooping in, grinning smugly and glancing around. The tree I was in put me just above the fog, so beyond their faces I couldn't see much. I could see, though, that none of them were heavily equiped.

"Where do you think they hid it?" a girl's voice asked, probably around Luke's age. It was rough and scratchy, probably from years of shouting orders or calling out for fights.

"Farther away. They'd be idiots to leave the flag so close to the line."

"Damnit, Roy! That's the point! Reverse psychology!"

Roy turned to face the girl, annoyance clearly written on his face. "Oh _really_, Clarisse? Then maybe you should be captain, instead of Athena's top girl?"

The other, who hadn't spoken up yet, said, "Roy's right. Learn to follow orders, Clarisse."

"You know what? No," Clarisse said, her voice trembling with rage. "I'll go find it myself. You little pansies can _follow orders_."

"Fine," Roy huffed, turning away from Clarisse. "Cassidy and I will reach the flag first, and you can be sure you won't get any credit."

Cassidy nodded fervently. Clarisse glared at her. "Do whatever you like, stiff. I'm winning this."

Clarisse turned and sprinted back to where Luke and I had come from, choosing to go farther left than we had troops. I couldn't tell if she did that on purpose (did she know about our team's stationing?). But who knew-after all, if normal kids cheated, how far would godly kids go to win a game they took so seriously?

I my gaze away from Clarisse's retreating figure, back towards Cassidy and Roy, who were strategizing. Cassidy was waving her hands around wildly, seemingly in better spirits now that Clarisse was gone. Roy was hesitantly agreeing. A rustle came from Luke's tree. Cassidy and Roy instantly shut up. They glanced around warily for a few moments before shrugging it off and talking again. I looked over to Luke, his blue eyes penetrating the darkness. I cocked my head towards the two fighters.

He nodded once, twice, three times. I nodded back. I waited for one…two…three...

"What are you-!"

I unsheathed my sword and pulled it towards Cassidy, who had turned around last-minute, holding a bow fitted with an arrow.

"Don't move, seaweed brains. Or we'll see whose blood smells like fish."

I raised an eyebrow. "Bring it."

She fired arrows like a conveyor belt, one out and one in, then back out again. I ducked in and out of her line of fire, dodging them successfully as the sounds of swords clanging from Luke's fight rang in the air. Arrows made hollow thuds as the found places in trees, and made loud shrieks when they went through the craggy bushes.

And arrow lodged into my shoulder, and I hissed out in pain. Expecting more, I tensed my right hand, my sword's hilt warm to the touch. Cassidy reached for another arrow, before her eyes widened in shock.

"Shoot…" she mumbled, glancing around for any form of weapon.

I raised my sword. "Pun intended?"

I brought it down on her shoulder, forcing her to the ground. She scrambled to get away but I placed my foot on her, sword brought down to her neck.

She huffed. "Fine, you win. Whatever. Let's go, Roy."

Roy, who had been pinned a while ago, shrugged and turned to Luke.

"So we still on for the party Tuesday?"

Luke shifted, his eyes darting back and forth. "Well…no. See, I'm going on a quest starting Monday…"

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought they couldn't give quests to the unclaimed?"

Finally looking up to meet Roy's stare, Luke had a fire in his eyes. "We all know I'm Hermes, Roy. And it's…more of a self-assigned quest."

"Well, I won't push it then. Just how long?"

"I won't be back till around Christmas."

Roy sucked in through his teeth, looking away. "Six months. You sure Allie's okay with that?"

"She's not. But she will be. She's a fighter; I believe in her."

Roy looked back towards Cassidy, who was tapping her foot impatiently, her vision fixed on a nearby squirrel. "Well, okay. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, around."

He joined up with Cassidy and headed towards what I assumed would be the main part of camp, where dinner would be served in a few hours.

By the time we were nearing the main river that welcomed the red team's perameter, Luke turned to me.

"You get any of that, Jackson?"

"What, you mean the quest thing?"

Luke laughed dryly. "The quest thing."

"I mean, I guess. You're going out to do something in the world, and that means you have to leave Allie. It's hard, but I guess it has to be done."

"Perce, listen up, okay?" Luke was looking me straight in the eye. "What I'm doing, I might not ever come back. And if that happens, I need you to look out for Allie, okay?"

I stepped back. "W-what? Luke, what are you talking about?"

"Quests, traditionally, are intent on killing monsters. And they have caravans of about six people. We've probably had three people ever to go alone on a quest. And none of them have returned.

"I'm not doing this as a suicide mission, I just don't want to run the risk of Allie never knowing what happened. And I trust you, little man. You can tell her, right? You can tell her that I died trying to make the world a better place?"

I looked at him, my eyes searching for any shred of a joke. He was serious. "If I have to, yes."

"Good," he said, looking out across the river. "Now we have a flag to get."

**A/N: so yeah! sorry for the swear earlier from clarisse, i just always picture her like that! :P so reviews plz and correct any mistakes if you want! :)**


End file.
